Method and apparatus for extracorporeal separation of fluorochemicals from whole blood of a patient

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for practical extracorporeal separation of fluorochemicals from clinically fluorochemical-containing whole blood of a patient. The methods incorporate centrifugal apheresis devices, preferably with low extracorporeal volumes, that provide a means for continuously removing separated fluorochemical-enriched fractions from the centrifuge during processing and return of whole blood-enriched fractions to the patient.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of extracorporeally removing fluorochemical from fluorochemical-containing whole blood of a patient comprising withdrawing a therapeutically acceptable extra-corporeal volume of the fluorochemical-containing whole blood from the patient,   passing the withdrawn blood through a continuous centrifugal apheresis device for removal of the fluorochemical and return of the blood to the patient at a therapeutically acceptable flow rate,   centrifugally separating at a therapeutically acceptable spin rate the withdrawn blood in the device into a fluorochemical-enriched fraction and a whole blood-enriched fraction,   removing the fluorochemical-enriched fraction from the centrifuge device to prevent build up of fluorochemical in the device, and   returning the whole blood-enriched fraction to the patient wherein said method takes place during one continuous cycle.   
     
     
       2. The method of claim 1 comprising continuously removing the fluorochemical-enriched fraction and whole blood-enriched fraction from the centrifuge device during one uninterrupted cycle. 
     
     
       3. The method of claim 1 wherein the retained volume of withdrawn blood in the device is below about 200 ml. 
     
     
       4. The method of claim 3 comprising introducing the whole blood into the device at a flow rate in the range of about 40 to about 120 ml/min. 
     
     
       5. The method of claim 3 comprising operating the device at a spin rate of about 750 to about 4000 cycles per second. 
     
     
       6. The method of claim 1 wherein the fluorochemical is present in the whole blood of the patient in a clinically useful quantity. 
     
     
       7. The method of claim 6 wherein the fluorochemical is present in an amount of about 4% to about 30% by volume. 
     
     
       8. The method of claim 1 wherein the returned whole blood-enriched fraction has a fluorocrit reduced to a therapeutically acceptable level. 
     
     
       9. The method of claim 8 wherein the fluorocrit is reduced to below about 5%. 
     
     
       10. The method of claim 1 wherein the fluorochemical is selected from the group consisting of any one or a mixture of perfluorodecalin, perfluorodimethyldecalin, perfluoromethyldecalin, perfluorotrimethylbicyclo(3.3.1.)nonane, perfluorodimethyladamantane,perfluoromethyladamantane, perfluoro-2,2,4,4-tetramethylpentane, perfluorotripropylamine, perfluorotributylamine, perfluoro-1-azacyclic amines, F-4-methyl-octahydroquinolidizine, perfluoro-1,5,9-trioxacyclododecane, perfluoro-15-crown-5, perfluorooctylbromide, perfluorodichlorooctane, perfluoromonochlorononane perfluorononyl-hydride, perfluorophenanthrene, F-dimethylethylcyclohexane and perfluorotrichloroheptane. 
     
     
       11. The method of claim 1 wherein the fluorochemical-containing whole blood is treated with an anticoagulant prior to centrifuging. 
     
     
       12. The method of claim 1 comprising separating natural components of the withdrawn blood into component-enriched fractions by operating said device at accelerated speeds.